It’s not a great time to be a small business, what with the recession and all its uncertainties but one enterprise surviving despite the slow times is Sports Port Ltd. Its offices on the waterfront hosted the Cayman Islands women’s Under-20 football team for a press conference on their way to their World Cup qualifiers in Suriname last month. The over-achieving girls got their kit from Sports Port as did the men’s national team.
Cayman’s sports teams normally get their full kit from Sports Port which was opened three years ago by Paul Trahan and Dan Hiryok.
“We started in a small location in the Cayside building in the back corner on the second floor,” says Hiryok. “Charles Adams Snr took a chance on our idea and allowed us to rent from him when no one else would give us the opportunity since we were a start up business with no experience. After one year in the small location, the waterfront location which was double the size opened up. We have been in that location ever since.
“We have done jerseys for the Cayman national football team, Cayman national basketball team, Little League, West Bay football league, several churches, youth flag football league, Cayman Islands Basketball Association’s youth league, Corporate Basketball League, Cayman Islands Flag Football League, domino clubs, Cayman Islands roller hockey league, Cayman Islands Youth hockey league, softball league and more.
“We also have or have had partnerships with several local bars like Dog House, Pirates Den, Lone Star, Calico Jack’s, CayBrew and Coconut Joe’s for different types of give-aways.
“Our best sellers are the FIFA jerseys and NFL gear. It all depends on the season. We do carry NBA, NHL, MLB and flag football items too. We started out only selling professional team jerseys and now offer items like team jerseys, flags, beach towels, umbrellas, t-shirts, hats, jackets, soccer balls, receiver gloves, socks, shorts, key chains, car stickers and more.”
The business depends partly on local trade, but also heavily on the cruise ship passengers. “It’s been more difficult this year with the lack of cruise ships. Our business since March is down dramatically as we depend on the cruise shippers to keep our store going.”
One brisk seller has always been Manchester United jerseys, but with their catastrophic 6-1 defeat to rivals Manchester City recently, Hiryok might soon find himself giving United tops away!
Sports Port Ltd is on the Waterfront in George Townu, on the corner of Shedden Road and Harbour Drive. cONTACT: 326-2036 OR [email protected]
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